United States Post Office Department facts for kids
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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | February 20, 1792 |
| Dissolved | July 1, 1971 |
| Superseding agency | |
| Agency executive | |
The Post Office Department is the former name of the United States Postal Service when it was a Cabinet department. It was headed by the United States Postmaster General.
The Postal Service Act signed by President George Washington on February 20, 1792 established the Department. Postmaster General John McLean was the first to call it the Post Office Department rather than just the "Post Office." The organization became more important in the government when President Andrew Jackson asked his Postmaster General, William T. Barry, to sit as a member of the Cabinet.
During the Civil War, postal services in the Confederacy were provided by the Confederate States of America Post Office Department, headed by Postmaster General John Henninger Reagan.
The Postal Reorganization Act signed by President Richard Nixon on August 12, 1970, replaced the cabinet-level Post Office Department with the independent United States Postal Service. The Act took effect on July 1, 1971.
Images for kids
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~ Benjamin Franklin ~ George Washington ~The First U.S. Postage StampsIssued 1847The first stamp issues were authorized by an act of Congress and approved on March 3, 1847. The earliest known use of the Franklin 5¢ is July 7, 1847, while the earliest known use of the Washington 10¢ is July 2, 1847. These issues were declared invalid for postage on July 1, 1851.
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Mineral Wells, Texas, post office, built between 1911 and 1913
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Mail truck loaded with gold leaves the New York City Assay Office, 1941.
